Rise of the Darklings (FanStory)
Yes, I am not dead yet! This is the sequel to Violet's Journey (FanStory), hope you like it. Also note: Credit goes to Maxis for any empires or heroes mentioned in this book. Prologue Cryos was burning with plasma and ice, a heavy storm roaring ahead. Two shadows in the distance - too large and armored to be Darkspore - were rushing over to another Hero standing next to a cavern howling from the wind. "Tork! You came," One of the heroes puffed. Tork had an impatient look in his eyes, as if frustrated to be brought down on the freezing hot planet. "Honestly, Andromeda, what did you want? And why not on Verdanth?" Tork growled. "I didn't even bring a coat!" "We found this Darkspore on the ground dying on an uncharted planet," The other hero - wearing an oversized black hoodie over his face, yet not menacing - looked exhausted from running, the visible parts of his hands and feet red. "The Crogenitors don't know about it yet. His name is Osten." "Why not?" Tork glanced questioningly at the hooded Hero. "They'll kill him," He responded darkly. "He needs someone to care for him that knows better than to kill it." "Why on Cryos, though?" The Biotic Hero looked around. "Verdanth would be much easier to live on." "For reasons you cannot comprehend right now," Andromeda looked at the squealing Darkspore in her arms, clearly cold and distressed. "If they catch me with this Darkspore, they'll have my head on a plate in a wall!" "Fine," Tork grumbled. "But they'll get suspicious of my leaving-" "I took care of that," The hooded hero interrupted. "They all think you're dead." "What?" Tork looked surprised. "What about Miras? She'll miss me!" "There's not a lot of time," Andromeda looked desperate. "Just take him!" Gently but rushed, she handed the Darkspore over to Tork, whom awkwardly cradled it. He tried to object, but Andromeda and the hooded hero were already gone. The baby-ish Darkspore squealed, looking up hopefully at Tork with big, round eyes - it looked a lot like a Pterodyne, but with fur. Was it M-Genetic? Tork sighed heavily, reluctantly taking the Darkspore into the nearby cave. "What have I gotten myself into..." Chapter 1 The cold wind bit harshly at Osten's long, dark purple fur - though it was unusual to see fur on Darkspore. He fluffed it out in attempt to get warm while sighing. As far as he remembered, he was born on Cryos, lived in Cryos, never left Cryos. Cryos, Cryos, Cryos everything. The freezing tempuratures drove him mad, and the constant fear of being found by a Hero. He did have one friend on Cryos, though - he had lived with him ever since he was born. The fluffy Pterodyne never quite knew why the Hero that was caring for him would even be concerned about a Darkspore - or was he even a Darkspore? He never was able to tell. He was told only that the Darkspore were enemies, but he had no idea what they looked like. "Osten!" A voice called - it was the Hero's. Osten turned and ran in the cave of where he heard the voice, fur plastered to his body and sticky with plasmalike snow. A warm scent drifted from the interior of the cave, fresh yet dead. Was it Prey-Eating already? "Lunch is here," The Hero grumbled, though not in a mean way, and tossed him the body of a Mouse. Osten plucked it out of the air and gobbled it up, licking his lips gladly and sniffing around the Hero for more. "Whoah, I don't have more!" The Hero held his hands up in defeat, and Osten playfully tackled him. The Hero yelped and laughed at the same time, trying to shove Osten's smooth furry head away from his own. Osten licked him, and they both roared with laughter. Osten didn't know much else other than the inhabitants of Cryos and what a Hero was - the Hero that took care of him seemed like the last one left, since he never saw if there were any others. As far as he knew and cared, he was an animal being cared for by the last of a species' kind - Heroes - and that was as far as his world and mind stretched. He could talk on his own, so he assumed that everything else that might exist could talk too. "Food, more mice, more happy," Osten barked. "More mice?" "I was gonna eat my lunch, snooty pig," The Hero teased. Osten counted Snooty Pigs as other animals, but never saw them for himself. He assumed that everything that the Hero called him was what he was, so all Snooty Pigs likely looked exactly like him. He and the Hero wrestled playfully on the ground, laughing and barking, though Osten did most of the barking. This was all he needed to be happy. This life he was living was simple, planned, organized, and happy. He never wanted to see anything surprising, or his life might turn around to where he couldn't live in it. Tork stood up, beckoning Osten with his hands. "Are you thirsty?" He asked. The furry Pterodyne nodded his head quickly, and they set off to the deeper parts of the cave. It fascinated Osten every time he went down, since everything seemed lke it was about to break. The pressure of wondering whether he was gonna die getting a drink or escape alive and proud excited him, and he had to force himself to not misbehave. A small pool of crystal-clear water stretched up above them. The path they were walking on was steep and uneven, but Osten thought of it as an adventure. He wanted to see new things, yes, but not things that were surprising. He already knew the things in the cave, but constantly yearned for more. When they approached the pool, Osten trotted up and lapped up the sparkling water. It was so refreshing it almost stung his tongue to drink it. When he was finished, he noticed that the Hero was already setting back to the outer cave in which they were at, without him. Osten was confused. The Hero never just left ''him. Confusion wrapped around his mind as he suddenly felt alone, as if the cavern walls were growing and stretching around him, suffocating him. He yelped in fear and cowered to the ground, waiting for the walls to stop being mean. Why did the Hero abandon him? "Hey, I know you," A shrill voice startled him. This was quite surprising. Osten tried to run, but felt a cold hand pass over his shoulder and lock him into place. This wasn't the Hero. But who was it? "Letmegoletmego!" Osten squeaked, hardly able to speak. "Why should I?" The voice sounded squeaky as well. "You're of my kin, aren't you?" Osten turned around. A huge Darkspore was standing right behind him! At least, Osten thought it was a Darkspore, since it looked a whole lot like him, but it didn't have fur. "I see you and Tork come down here all the time," The Darkspore-Thing spoke oddly. He wasn't speaking English, but rather a different language that Osten seemed to know. "Never got the chance to say hello." "Well, now you had your chance," Osten barked, trying to match the Darkspore-Thing's language. "Now let me go!" "Such a bummer that a Darkling had to be taken to Cryos," It grumbled. "At least you have fur." "Excuse me?" Osten was confused. "Darkling?" "Ah, you haven't heard of them yet." The creature sounded calm. "They're hybrids of various Darkspore species. Like the Pterostylus, though you look nothing like one. Who were your parents?" "That Hero," Osten replied blankly, thinking of the so-called 'Tork'. "No, I mean the ones that gave birth to you, not your babysitter." Babysitter? Tork? This creature sure did know some weird words. "I don't know my parents, if that's what you're asking." "Ah, thats a shame. If you ''did ''know them, then you would know where you got your fur from. Because your kin of Darkspore don't have fur, let alone blue fur. Or, it could have been M-DNA, that's always a possibility." "I don't know you..why are you talking to me?" "Because I have no one else to talk to." The creature sighed. "I'm one of those lone Darkspore that roam the planets that the Crogenitors and Heroes destroyed. I wish I could get back at them for the lives they took away." "You live alone here?" Osten tipped his head. He suddenly felt sympathy for this creature. "Well, other than you standing here talking to me, yes." Osten growled. Heroes are killing Darkspore? What did they do to them? And why? His night-violet fur spiked up in fury. Why would such beings try to kill Darkspore that never harmed them? There was more than just 'Tork'? And who were the Crogenitors? "Where are they?" Osten snarled. "They must receive justice!" "There's nothing I can do about it," The Pterodyne sighed. "I have no method of transportation, and if I tried to communicate with your babysitter, he'd poison me to death." "Then why didn't he kill me yet?" Osten's fur rose up even more along his spine, fury seeping into his blood. "Not sure." He shrugged. Osten roared. "I ''must ''find the Heroes responsible!" "Whoah! Calm down," The Pterodyne snapped. "You're gonna make the cave collapse with all that noise." He didn't hear the rest. The furry Pterodyne screeched in anger, smacking his hand against the cave wall. Suddenly, he was cast into darkness. Confusion roared. Where was he? A millisecond later, he heard a sharp ''twwzaap, and he found himself standing a few meters away from where he had been before. What just happened? The Pterodyne was gaping at him, eyes wide with surprise. "How did you do that?" "Do what?" Osten was completely oblivious to what had just happened. "You just...teleported," It sounded so shocked. "How did..." Osten was just as confused. He had no idea who Teleported even was. But whatever Teleported had done to him, it moved him. Maybe Teleported was mad at him for being mad? Was it an unseen Darkspore? "Osten!" The so called Tork's voice rang. "Are you alright down there?" "I gotta go," Osten hissed, feeling his voice slip back into English. "See later. See again soon?" The Pterodyne nodded its head before Osten charged off into the mouth of the cave, where Tork was patiently waiting for him. Chapter 2 Osten found it hard to focus on anything, even when nothing was going on. He felt unsafe around Tork the Hero; after hearing about the suposedly existant other Heroes killing his kin, he was suspicious of his Babysitter turning on him at any moment. Was this Tork related to the Heroes? Would he ever turn on him? Why is he caring for his kin's enemy? Thoughts swam around Osten like a flurry of snowflakes. What did life even really mean? One cold, snowy morning, Osten saw a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye and, without thinking, snapped his jaws at the source. All he caught, however, was air. Tork had a strange look on his face, as if struggling to comprehend what just happened, and blinked a lot. It took a minute for Osten to realize that he nearly bit his hand. "What's the matter with you lately?" "Not stuffs, no stuffs and no matters." Osten grumbled in English and sat in the shady corner of the cave, near the tunnel leading deeper to the caverns below. Tork didn't respond and simply sat by the entrance to the outside world and sighed. Without thinking as well, Osten silently stood up and slipped into the deeper caverns, following the narrow trail that sloped deeply. The shadows seemed to welcome him, but at the same time they seemed to shrink away in fear. He shook his head, fluffed up his fur, and sighed while continuing down the trail. His feet started to ache. The trail flattened out and grew, the light starting to diminish. Osten found it no harder to see in this darkness than at night, yet had to strain his eyes to see details. It was quiet down in the caverns, the sound of Osten's footsteps the only audible noise. He eventually smoothed out his gait out of instinct, becoming nothing more than a silent shadow. Osten had no clue where he was going, just as long as it was somewhere new. His want of a small simple world was long abandoned. Knowing that there were more of his kin and Tork's kin, he caught himself sniffing the rocks for any other scent. But all he could pick up was stale water and the cold, damp snap of the caverns. The deeper he went, the colder and darker it became until he was treading in pitch-black freezing darkness. His ears were pricked for any sound, eyes widened and trying to adjust to the lack of light. He swore he started to hear noises from deep down. The crack of a rock tumbling down startled him. Osten swerved his ears in the direction of the source. A tiny pebble fell down and rolled next to his feet. Something was following him. His fur rose along his spine and he bared his teeth in a snarl, flattening his ears to his neck. The low stomp of some creature shook the ground some. It was too big or small to be Tork's - so what was it? The very pale outline of some creature came into view. It was no bigger than Osten, perhalps even smaller. It didn't look like him, though, and likely wasn't the Pterodyne he had seen before. Osten picked up the heavy tang of fear-scent, in which he wasn't sure how he knew what it was, as the creature stopped dead in its tracks, staring at him directly. Osten also picked up another unknown scent from the creature; it was hot and it felt as if the roof of his mouth was burning - spicy, maybe, somewhere in it. "Who are you?" Osten snarled in his animal-voice. "Just passing through," The animal squeaked. It was clearly hurt. "Is this your cave?" "Yes, so get out," Osten didn't want to fight this creature out, unless it was one of those Heroes. Then he'd beat it up until they cried for mercy. They slaughtered his kin, after all! The animal didn't move, just stood there shivering. "I said, get out." Osten warned again. "My feet are stuck," The creature whined. "Then I'll make them unstuck," Osten growled and leaped at the animal's legs and slashed at them. It screeched, causing the cave to rumble and echo with its shout of pain. It backed up in a hurry and started to flee, until it stopped again. What was it this time? Osten pricked his ears nervously. A low rumble filled the tunnels, the eerie sound of rock sliding against rock. "Run, Stuckfeet!" He barked, grabbed the animal's arm, or whatever it was he grabbed, and shot up the trail. Rocks were pouring down behind them as the cave started to collapse. The roar of stone falling bounced around until it made his ears hurt. Ignoring the pain, he found the narrow trail leading steeply upwards and sprinted up it with the creature following close behind. He barely even noticed that Tork had gone when he entered the mouth to the cave and ran to the outside world. Cold pierced his fur. He watched in horror as the cave wailed and collapsed on itself, throwing up a wall of dust and rock. The cave enterance fell on itself, blocking everything from sight. Osten tried to hear if Tork was inside, but the roar of snow, plasma far in the distance, and the grinding rocks blocked out all other sound. Silence slowly crept upon the area. Tork was nowhere in sight. Osten fell to his knees, overcome by strange emotions and felt water start to form in his eyes. The smaller animal stared down at him awkwardly as Osten's chest heaved, short and sudden hisses slipping from his tongue like an avalanche, the water from his eyes trickling down his face and freezing on the ground. His Babysitter was probably down in the destroyed caverns, never to be found. Osten, however, suddenly felt rage boil deep in his blood, tightly gripping with his claws against the ground. The animal was responsible for Tork's death! It was the one who made it fall from its screech! He no longer cared whether it was a Darkspore or not. He had to avenge his Babysitter's death, even if it was kin of the Heroes who killed his own kin in the past. "I'll destroy you!" Osten screamed, not caring whether it was in English or not, and surged up to his feet, then charged at the animal. It howled, but Osten cut its cry of pain to silence by slamming his paw against its big mouth while battering it furiously. This traitor would pay for the death of his Mentor, his Friend! The animal slowly ceased of movement. Osten jumped off it and up on his legs, realizing that his fur had fluffed up to twice its normal size. Forcing it to lay flat, he gazed around. The fury of the snow around him was deafening suddenly, and he was forsaken of all help - unless he learned to help himself. Sighing, Osten trugged through the snow and towards...nowhere specific. He didn't care where he was going, as long as it was somewhere safe. ---- Cold, pain, and something dripping down his leg was all Osten could feel. Immediatly, he noticed that he wasn't even standing - he was lying on the ground. And a creature with an odd shape was pointing a glowing metallic thing at his face. "IDENTIFY. IDENTIFY." The strange creature's voice sounded horrible, an emotionless grinding noise ringing deep from it. It was a sound that sent chills down Osten's spine, something that he had never heard of before. It took him but a mere few seconds to realize what must had happened: He likely had passed out from the cold and the creature merely found him. It looked far from being friendly, its right eye covered up by what looked like a grey bowl with a red center that glowed with an eerie light. A light that was far from natural. "IDENTIFY!" The creature screeched again, pointing the gun closer to Osten. He shivered and tried to speak, but no sound came out. He was too scared to move or talk. A shadowy blob was sitting idle in the distance, dark purple hornlike things sprouting from each side of its triangular body and just barely reaching the tip. Some other creatures were standing there next to it, as if on guard, that looked similar to the animal that was demanding Osten's identification. He scraped together the courage to speak. "O-Osten. Son of...uh...not really sure. Harmless m-meek animal o-of C-cryos." The animal's red eye seemed to glare more harshly, though it lifted the metal thing away from his neck. What was it thinking? "IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE. HARMLESS CARBON LIFE FORM." The creature started to walk away, back to its horned-triangle-animal...or was it even an animal? He couldn't tell. "Wait, who are you and your friends?" Osten shouted. The creature whirled around and glared at him. "GROX." Its voice was harsh and almost metallic. Osten had never heard of a "Grox" before. But from the looks, they didn't seem like the kind of animals that would sit down and chat like Tork would. The thought of Tork made Osten angry all over again. The animal that crushed Tork with its screech payed his debts already, but made him wonder if these Grox had anything to do with Tork or the Heroes. The Grox-animal seemed to read his mind. "WE HAVE NO AFFLICTION. WE LEAVE AND EXTERMINATE." "Essterm Nate who?" Osten had no idea what the word Essterm Nate meant, but it sounded fun to say. "EVERYTHING." That caught Osten's attention. "Even Heroes of the Crogenitor Surgery? Even me?" "IF THEY OPPOSE THE GROX, THEN YES. YOU ARE A MERE HARMLESS OXYGEN-BREATHER." "Does that mean I live?" "MAYBE." "Where are you going now?" "STOP ASKING QUESTIONS. THEY ARE IRRELEVANT. ARE YOU A SPY?" The Grox-animal suddenly looked hostile again and pointed the shiny glowing thing at him again. "I CAN TELL YOU WHERE YOU'RE GOING IF YOU KEEP AT IT." That made Osten shut up, then shut down. Or simply open his mouth? "Well, if you see the Heroes of the Crogenitor Surgery, then can you beat them up fo- oh wait. Nevermind. That's a question." The Grox-animal only stared at him, its one green eye narrowed into a foresty slit. "I want them all dead!" Osten felt rage boil again, unable to control himself, though now he had no idea why he wanted to have all the Heroes dead. "I'll do it myself if you don't!" "YOUR AMBITION IS NECESSARY. RECRUIT NOW OR DIE IN THE COLD." Category:Fiction Writing Category:Darkspore Category:Miras Saga